POKEMON

The Best Things Come In Three

CHAPTER ONE

The Start Of Something New

Professor Samuel Oak looked at the three starter Pokemon.

The three starter Pokemon looked back at the Professor. Then they looked at each other.

"Bulba?" The blue dinosaur with the green plant bulb on its back asked. It was a Bulbasaur, and could be a little bit stubborn. Professor Oak knew that this one was particularly strong, in both body and mind.

"Char-Char!" An orangey-red salamander with a flame on the tip of its tail answered, waving its arms about frantically. "Charmander Char!" The Charmander exclaimed. It was a little bit shy, but could be quite animated when it got worked up. Which it was

"Squirtle-Squirt." The blue turtle with the red shell tried – unsuccessfully – to cross its arms. It nodded in a self-assured manner. "Squirtle."This Squirtle was quite confident, and could be a little bit of a prankster at times.

"Bulbasaur?" Whatever Squirtle had said, Bulbasaur didn't seem convinced. "Bulba Bulba Saur, Saur Bulbasaur!"

"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle was angry that Bulbasaur didn't believe it. It got right up in Bulbasaur's face. "Squirtle!" But Bulbasaur wasn't backing down.

"Char Charmander Char Char!" Sensing a fight, Charmander got between the two blue Pokemon. "Char Char!" It held up its hands.

Bulbasaur seemed to sigh. "Bulbasaur Bulba. Saur Saur."

Squirtle still seemed annoyed. "Squirtle Squirt!" It said, trying to get past Charmander.

"Char!" Charmander complained, when Squirtle accidentally stepped on its foot. Now Charmander was upset!

Bulbasaur immediately pushed between Charmander and Squirtle. "Bulba." It said soothingly.

"Charmander." Charmander still wasn't happy, and glared at Bulbasaur.

"Bulba." Bulbasaur wasn't shifting.

"Squirtle Squirt." Squirtle said, suddenly good-natured again. "Squirtle Squirtle?" It held out one hand.

"Charmander Char Char." Charmander agreed, putting its hand on Squirtle's.

"Bulba." Bulbasaur nodded, and managed to get up on its hind legs to add its fist to the group. "Saur Saur Bulbasaur."

Professor Oak had been watching the entire scene, and his previous thoughts were now confirmed. These three starter Pokemon were different, but they co-operated together well and, while there were definitely some conflictions, they appeared to be good friends.

Good thing too, because they'd probably be spending a whole lot more time together from now on.

It was Professor Oak's turn to sigh, as he turned away from the scene.

Suddenly, a sound filled the lab room, the sound of a phone ringing. "Ring ring ring, ring ring ring – phone call, phone call!"

The Pokemon were too busy playing to notice as Professor Oak went over to the computer/phone/TV/coffee-maker, and sat down in front of it. He pressed the receive button, and the image on the screen switched immediately to a picture of a middle-aged woman.

She was very pretty, with violet hair and indigo eyes. She wore a white lab coat over a blue bikini, and her hair was soaking wet across her shoulders, a good indicator that she'd just gotten out of the ocean.

"Professor Oak," She said, her calm face relaxing into a smile. "Good evening. Is everything alright?" She had always been so good at determining human emotions, but she was better at Pokemon psychology. Even she admitted it.

Professor Oak smiled despite himself. "Perceptive as usual, Professor Ivy. Actually, I do have a slight problem here at the moment. How did you know?"

He expected her to say something about how troubled he looked, or maybe about what he was still doing awake at this hour. What he didn't expect her to say was: "Well, just that your Charmander seems to have set fire to the sofa pillow over there." She pointed.

Professor Oak turned around. "My Charmander seems to have…" he trailed off, and then jumped up. "Oh dear! Uh…Squirtle?" the tiny turtle looked up at the professor. "Use Water Gun-" he was hit in the face with a stream of water from Squirtle's mouth. "To put out the fire." The professor finished numbly.

Squirtle only stopped laughing when Bulbasaur used its Vine Whip to slap Squirtle's face. Squirtle turned toward the couch, as the whole entire thing was now on fire, and directed a stream of water at the flames. Meanwhile, Bulbasaur hurried over to Charmander, who was looking very upset, and began to comfort it. When Squirtle finished playing the hero, it also hurried over to comfort its friend.

Professor Oak wiped the water from his face, and turned back to Professor Ivy. "I'm so sorry you had to see that, Professor Ivy," he said, sitting down once again. "These three Pokemon are the starter Pokemon that hatched from their eggs recently…"

"Ah, yes, I remember," Professor Ivy smiled. "How are they doing?"

"Quite well, albeit there have been a few accidents," Professor Oak replied. "That's not the problem, however. The problem is that they're ready for their trainers. Unfortunately, those three trainers don't exist."

Professor Ivy raised an eyebrow.

"You see, the three trainers who were supposed to start out here have all left," Professor Oak explained. "So these three Pokemon are without trainers, as there aren't any ten year olds in Pallet Town at this time."

To his surprise, Professor Ivy looked thrilled. "But this is perfect, Professor Oak."

"Perfect?" It was Professor Oak's turn to look sceptic. "What's so perfect about it?"

"Here," Professor Ivy pressed a button on her end of the line, and two pictures replaced her image on the screen. Both showed teenage girls in sailor-style school uniforms. The one on the left had long light brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her earrings looked like sea shells. The girl on the right had medium-length black hair, and dark brown eyes framed by glasses.

"What's this?" Professor Oak wanted to know.

"These girls are both graduates from the Pokemon Academy here on Valencia Island," Professor Ivy explained. The brunette's picture lit up. "This is Krystal Shellfields," The picture showing the girl with glasses was then highlighted." And Azure Lighthearts. They're both in need of their first Pokemon…and you have starter Pokemon who are in need of trainers…I actually called you to see if you could help me with my problem. This seems mutually beneficial for us, Professor."

Professor Oak began to smile too. "This could work out perfectly, Professor Ivy. When can you send these two girls here to Kanto? I'd rather not have to send these three via transfer yet…"

"I understand completely, Professor," The purple-haired woman's face returned to the screen. "Anyway, it would be better if the girls could meet the Pokemon on the Pokemons' own territory. I can probably have them there by this time tomorrow."

"Great," Professor Oak was relieved. He smiled as the Charmander and Squirtle jumped up onto each of his shoulders, and waved to Professor Ivy on the screen. "We'll be looking forward to this. And, if these young girls are both graduates from the academy, then they're sure to become excellent trainers."

"Yes, knowing these two girls, they will be," Professor Ivy seemed to hesitate then, before going on: "Uh, however Professor, there is something I should probably mention…"

"Oh?"

"The two photos that I showed you?" The pictures of the two eleven year old girls appeared briefly back on screen, before showing Professor Ivy's face again. "They're a little…out-dated…"

Professor Oak paused for a moment, before asking the dreaded question: "How much out-dated, Professor?"

"Well…"

"Bulbasaur!"

Following the Grass Pokemon's exclamation was a tremendous crash, followed by smoke filling up the room. Professor Oak, Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur all began coughing, as the sound of slightly evil laughter filled the room.

"Prepare for trouble…"

"And make it double…"

"What's…going on!?" Professor Oak exclaimed.

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all peoples in every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

"Cassidy!" A blonde haired young woman wearing a black uniform with an R emblazoned across the front stepped forward through the smoke. She was followed by her aqua-haired male partner. In his hand was a large sack, containing a struggling something.

"And Butch is the name!" He announced.

"Team Rocket circling earth all day and night!"

"Surrender to us now or you will surely lose the fight!"

"Raticate!" A large light brown rat-like Pokemon jumped forward, bearing big sharp, pointy teeth.

"Raticate," Cassidy ordered. "Hyper Fang attack!"

"Raticate!" The Pokemon's fangs began to glow, as it aimed its attack at Professor Oak. The Professor jumped out of the way, and Raticate's attack hit the computer, destroying it instantly.

Professor Oak landed roughly on the floor, and stayed unconscious until dawn the next day, as the sun's rays fell across his face, and he began to stir.

All that could be heard was the crackling of electricity from the destroyed computer, as the Professor stood up and looked around in shock, unsure of what exactly had just happened.

But it soon became clear to him what had just happened, as he looked around. Butch, Cassidy and Raticate were nowhere in sight – and neither were the Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle!

Professor Oak was shocked. A quick search of his entire estate confirmed his terrible suspicions. This was one of the very worst things that could have happened, because there was no doubt that those thieves had stolen the three starter Pokemon! Professor Oak couldn't believe it.

Now what? Those two trainers would be arriving from Valencia Island that very night, expecting to pick up their very first Pokemon!

Professor Oak was concerned about this as well, because there was a slight chance that the girls were already on their way here.

A quick phone call to Professor Ivy from another phone proved that they were.